Europe stocks drop as Eurogroup discusses Greece

Banking shares trade lower in London, Paris, Frankfurt and Madrid

LONDON (MarketWatch) — European stock markets sustained broad-based losses Monday, with investors jittery as euro-zone finance ministers met for the third time this month to discuss debt sustainability for Greece and potentially clear the way for the nation’s next installment of bailout aid.

The Stoxx Europe 600 index
SXXP, -0.64%
fell 0.5% to close at 272.00, after putting in its best performance in nearly a year last week.

Europe this week: aid for Greece

(4:10)

Negotiations over the release of the next tranche of aid for Greece continue, with elections in Catalonia potentially helping propel independence claims in the region.

Meanwhile, shares of ThyssenKrupp AG
TKA, -1.26%
lost 5.1% after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the German conglomerate to neutral from outperform.

Nokia Corp. shares
NOK1V, -0.35%NOK, -1.94%
lost 3.6%, giving back some of their recent gains. Damian Dinning, the Finnish handset maker’s imaging-tech chief, told the pureviewclub.com over the weekend that he is stepping down to join Jaguar Land Rover, as staying with Nokia would have meant relocating to Finland from the U.K., which was not an option for his family. Nokia confirmed that Dinning is leaving.

Third meeting on Greece

For the broader European markets, attention was fixed on Greece, with euro-zone finance ministers again meeting in Brussels to discuss a deal on a road map to debt sustainability for the nation, a move necessary to release its next tranche of bailout money. No news of an agreement were out at the European market close.

“To reach debt sustainability, a cocktail of measures is on the table, including lower interest rates on Greek debt, debt buybacks and a compromise with the [International Monetary Fund] to extend the target date for debt at 120% of GDP to 2022 from 2020,” analysts at Société Générale said in a note.

“While there is a good chance that an agreement is reached on Monday, we consider it unlikely that this will make Greek public finances sustainable on anything but paper. The hope is no doubt that the Greek issue will not need to be revisited until after the German election due in autumn 2013,” they said.

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